


A Caged Bird Sings

by dragonashes



Series: Quintessence: Undertale One-shots [27]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dancetale, Emotional Manipulation, Everyone Needs A Hug, Experimentation, Gen, Handplates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 09:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11415390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonashes/pseuds/dragonashes
Summary: In a world where monster magic is based on dancing, W. D. Gaster is concerned with one of his experiments' refusal to perform.  Good thing he's no stranger to using drastic measures to get what he wants.Based on theDancetale AUand theHandplates series.





	A Caged Bird Sings

**Author's Note:**

> Dancetale was created by tearsandstars.  
> Handplates was created by zarla-s.  
> This unholy amalgamation of the two that no one asked for was created by me.

Gaster looked at the chil- at the subjects in the cell in front of him.  “File #645-2.  Subject P2 remains unconscious,” he dictated to his recorder.  “Falling seems more likely by the hour.  If he remains in this state tomorrow morning, I shall ask the intern upstairs if she needs further test subjects.”  He wondered if Alphys had made any progress with her Determination experiments, then pushed the thought aside.  As the Royal Scientist and Alphys’ supervisor, he’d been called in to clean up some of her early...failures.  Some things even he - hardened though he was - would prefer not to touch.

A shuffling sound brought his attention back to the cell where the subjects were confined.  S1 was glaring up at the scientist, the ungrateful brat.  This would have been so much easier if S1 and P2 lacked sentience, but all great achievements were marred by  _ some _ failure.

“Do you even care?”  S1 asked, ignoring Lab Rule #34: only speak when spoken to.  S1 broke Rule #34 on a daily basis - so often that it was rarely worth punishing him for it anymore.

Humoring his experiment, Gaster replied, “Do I care about what?  Do not be vague; it’s inefficient.”

S1 made a strange noise.  “Do you care about Pap - about P2?  He’s dying here.  At least when you broke my eye, you let him heal me.”

“You are present.  You have permission to heal him.”

“You ba- you know that’s not possible!  He needs an antidote!  Healing him won’t remove whatever you poisoned him with!”

It wasn’t poison, strictly speaking, and S1 knew it.  Gaster pushed down the familiar irritation that arose whenever S1 wasted his intellectual potential with exaggeration...or worse,  _ jokes. _  How either trait had come about in a creature brewed in a lab with no outside contact was a mystery.  Gaster made a mental note to double-check his bookcases; the subjects had a strange habit of pilfering his reading materials when he wasn’t paying close enough attention.

_ "Please.” _  When Gaster looked back, S1 was kneeling - kneeling? - by the bars of the cage, every bone in his small body hunched in defeat.  “Please...give him the antidote to...whatever you gave him.  I’ll help with the experiment instead.  Just...please save him.”

“You had the opportunity to help before.  You refused.”

“I know.  I-I’m sorry.  I won’t do it again.”

“And the next time you refuse to cooperate?  What then?”

“Damni- don’t pretend I’m stupid.  Logically, P...P2 is useful to your research.  You won’t let him die.”

“Then why bother asking?”

“Because he’s my brother.   _ Please, _ I’ll do  _ anything _ for him.”

With a few taps of the keypad, Gaster deactivated the energy beams that guarded the cell door.  “Come.  Prove it.”

S1 followed, putting up less of a fuss than he had in weeks.  Gaster entered the lab, meticulously cleared of operating tables.  S1 moved to the center of the floor and stood there awkwardly, as if he was not sure how to prove his intentions when there were no experiments to be done.

“Ask for your...brother’s antidote,” Gaster said.”

“Please…”

“No.”

A summoned ethereal hand touched a panel, and music began to play.  It was a basic melody with an exaggerated rhythm, something that would fit many different kinds of dance, like a teacher would use to test the dance style of a young monster.

_ “Ask _ for your brother’s antidote,” Gaster repeated.

Gaster watched his creation carefully, seeing the realization of what was being asked of him fade into resentment...and, slowly, into desperation.  S1 had never danced much, even in the days before the increasing experimentation caused him to hate his creator.  Even with secret cameras, Gaster had only caught him dancing half a dozen times in the past year, and then, only at the request of P2.

The choppy recordings of the repurposed hidden cameras didn’t do justice to the young skeleton’s technique.  It was wild - far less refined than his own waltz, but smooth and surprisingly mesmerizing.  Gaster had expected a half-hearted performance, at least the first time he asked, but the abandon with which S1 threw himself into his impromptu performance showed a passion that overrode rebellion.  The frantic desire for his brother’s safety bled through, and Gaster - caught off guard - felt some long-dead part of his soul tug in sympathy to the beat.

It was easily quashed.  The simple tune faded into another, which was cut off with a spectral hand.  Gaster turned and walked from the room, not bothering to see if S1 was following.  As he expected, S1 was standing next to him by the time he opened the cell, still a bit winded from his dance and strangely compliant.

Gaster reached into a coat pocket and withdrew a syringe, which he administered to P2.  “He will wake within the hour,” he said, turning to leave.  He didn’t need to look to know S1 was glaring again in utter betrayal.

Still a bit unnerved by his minor attack of empathy, Gaster retreated to his office and began prepping for the next day’s experiments.  He turned his recorder back on to dictate while he worked.

“Addendum to File #645-2.  Experiment was a success.  Emotional manipulation works well on S1, especially with regards to P2’s health.  I shall attach copies of the performance from the lab cameras as soon as they are retrieved.  Note to self: find better cameras for improved data collection.  S1’s abilities with the magic of dance are powerful - moreso than I previously believed, especially given the damage to his eye.  Recommend further study…”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> There's really no excuse for this story, but I wrote it about a year ago and wanted to post it before Zarla takes Handplates down the Core-related point of no return. Plus, I'm once again a bit short on one-shots in my queue.
> 
> You know, when I said in the author's notes of my last story that I wanted to update more "pending any more hard knocks," that was not intended as a challenge. This post is dedicated to one of my sisters who's recovering from surgery, now an organ poorer than she was at the beginning of the week. Rieskie, I know you've been curious about what I do with my spare time, so if you find this please know that I love all the bits of you that are left.


End file.
